The weeks after Thanksgiving have been pretty routine. Work for both of us is a bit slower with the end of the year approaching but will pick up again after the first of the year. For Pam this means the start of a new semester and accompanying registration of students; for me, my 2018 budget will kick in and new projects will be initiated.

Weather is a constant issue this time of year. Temperatures have returned to seasonal normals, low to mid 40s for highs and low teens overnight. No snow; the weather service reports that November was the 2nd warmest and 3rd driest (0.1 inches) on record. I don’t miss the snow for commuting purposes but it would be unusual to have no snow for Christmas — a possibility this year. The upcoming forecast for the week of December 10 – 17 has no snow in it. Ski areas are not fully open; some slopes are operating with man-made snow but Aspen’s daytime highs are still in the 40 degree range and higher slopes, where snow making is not an option, are bare.

On to miscellaneous notes. Here is a screen shot of our ATV group in Cactus Park, taken by our group leader:

ATV group in Cactus Park (photo by Steve Canelle.)

I am in the front row just right of center and wearing a yellow vest.

Pam has a new kitten to care for; this one was stuck under our trailer skirting, meowing, and driving the dogs wild. Named Pumpkin Pie, this kitten is a real sweetie and purrs up a storm when petted:

7-week old Pumpkin Pie

Pam is making arrangements for first vaccinations, and then will explore kitten adoption in the new year. In fact, Pam’s supervisor is looking for a kitten and Pumpkin Pie may end up at her house. We hope for the best. Photo is a bit fuzzy; I may get a better one this weekend. (Getting a kitten to stay still for long enough to photograph can be a chore!)

Pam has completed the design of our Christmas cards; now it’is time to write notes in them and get them mailed. That is the project for the coming week. Our card list shrinks a bit every year and it seems like fewer people send cards by mail. We always include cards as part of our Christmas decor and display them throughout the Christmas season.

I have been making some stylistic changes to a few of my web pages, creating some “rounded corner” icons and playing with links. I don’t think these changes are significant but it does give me some opportunities to play with CSS style sheets and HTML coding which should make the pages more consistent and reduce the amount of code each page requires. Due to these changes and a few other underlying code changes the pages should load faster as well. If you notice these changes let me know what you think of them. (My E-cards page shows off the new ’rounded corner’ design.)

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

What would Christmas be without a kitten or two in the house? Some years I wish I knew! Looks like Pumpkin Pie might be one of a late-season litter of three; I see two tiny black fuzzballs (Butterball and Cranberry) coming to the back deck feeder on occasion.  One down, two to go.

Happy Trails.